6 Dead And Dozens Injured After Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest

Six people were killed in Illinois and several more were injured as tornadoes raked the Midwest. Besides Illinois, the severe weather also caused damage in Kentucky, Missouri, and Indiana.

by Tony Merevick

BuzzFeed Staff

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by Ali Vingiano

BuzzFeed Staff

and

by Rachel Zarrell

BuzzFeed Staff

Posted on November 17, 2013, 7:21 pm

At least six people are dead after a massive severe weather outbreak in the Midwest on Sunday that spawned several tornadoes across Illinois, Indiana, and portions of Missouri and Kentucky.

Two people were killed in New Minden, Ill., a small town in the state's Washington County. Another person was killed in the city of Washington, Ill., in Tazewell County, Patti Thompson of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency told BuzzFeed.

Two more people are dead and one is missing in Brookport, Ill., a town near the southern tip of the state, according to KFVS. Thompson was unable to confirm the information when asked by BuzzFeed, but Jonathon Monken, director of IEMA, confirmed the deaths to ABC News.

Dozens more were reported injured in the storms near Washington, Pekin, Ill., and Peoria, Ill., according to the Peoria Journal Star.

Tornado touchdowns have been confirmed by the National Weather Service in Vermilion, Champaign, Tazewell, Woodford, Peoria, Massac, and Iroquois counties. Damage has also been reported from severe weather in LaSalle, Wayne, Grundy, and Washington counties, according to IEMA.

Damage surveyed in New Minden indicated the storm produced a powerful EF-4 tornado there with wind speeds of up to 200mph, according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

Calls made by BuzzFeed to the office of Washington Chief of Police Don Volk were met with a message saying, "Due to telephone company facility trouble, your call could not be completed at this time," suggesting phone service outages in the city. Washington is home to over 10,000 people.

As of Sunday evening, there were almost 80 reports of tornadoes, according to preliminary information from the Storm Prediction Center.

Most of these are in Illinois, but tornadoes also caused damage in Kentucky, Missouri, and Indiana. Major cities including Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus in Ohio, as well as Louisville, Ky., are still at risk for dangerous weather Sunday night.